7c6cdd7d45cb035b54aafd3ac9eb9cc8

They’d arrived in town and Harriet plastered a pleasant smile onto her face. This was her moment. Her chance to shine. The only disadvantage was that she’d have to shine anonymously, which is always a tough proposition. But she was going to make it work.

“Let’s talk to Kingman first,” she suggested. “If Kingman knows, the whole town knows.”

“Fine,” said Brutus without much enthusiasm.

So they strode up to Kingman, the big cat lounging in the sun on the pavement in front of his human’s store.

“Hi, Harriet,” he said. “Hey, Brutus. What’s cooking?”

“I’ve just heard the most exciting news,” Harriet began. “Isn’t that right, Brutus?”

“The most exciting news,” Brutus muttered.

“You know theHampton Cove Gazette advice column?” said Harriet.

“Uh-huh,” said Kingman. “What about it?”

“Well, they’re about to add a second Gabi, only this Gabi isn’t called Gabi but Chloe.” She let that sink in for a moment.

“Chloe, huh?” said Kingman with a yawn. “Great. More dumb answers to dumb questions posted by dumb humans.”

“No, but you see, Chloe isn’t like Gabi. Chloe will be answering questions from pets! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Pets?” asked Kingman with a frown. “Pets can’t write. How are they going to send in their questions?”

“I’ve got that all worked out—I mean Dan Goory, theGazette’s editor, has got it all worked out—or will, once he gets on board with the exciting new scheme. Pets will talk to correspondents, for instance you, who will relay the questions to me or Brutus, who’ll work with Chloe to figure out the replies and get them ready for publication. It’s going to revolutionize the entire advice column concept!”

“Sure,” said Kingman, not looking convinced. “So pets will talk to me or whoever, we talk to you, and then what? How will you feed those same questions to Chloe?”

“Just leave that to me. I have established a personal connection with Chloe, and I’ll personally introduce the questions to her. Personally.”

“So you know this Chloe, huh?”

“I do,” said Harriet proudly, with a wink to Brutus, which he didn’t return. “And she’s very nice and knowledgeable and she’ll answer your questions with wisdom and tact.”

“She’s wise, this Chloe, is she?”

“She is very wise. Very, very wise. Very, very, very wise. And clever, too.”

“So who is she?” asked Kingman.

“I’m sorry but I can’t tell you that.”

“Is she from around here?”

“Y-yes, she is.”

“And she’s a cat, like us?”

“Mh-mh.”

A slow smile spread across Kingman’s face. “Then I think I know who it is. Typical.”

Harriet gave Kingman a wary look.“You figured it out already?”

“Of course! There’s only one cat in all of Hampton Cove who’s wise and tactful and clever enough to think up such a plan.”

Harriet blinked, warmth spreading through her chest.“I know, right?”

“And there she is now!” said Kingman.

Harriet looked up, and to her utter dismay saw that Shanille had joined them. Shanille, Father Reilly’s cat and cat choir’s resident conductor, didn’t always see eye to eye with Harriet, their disputes mostly centering around Harriet’s desire to be cat choir’s one and only soprano soloist.

“Harriet just told me about the new job,” said Kingman. “Congratulations, Shanille! I’ll spread the word, shall I? Make sure you have plenty of work.”

Shanille gave him a look of confusion.“What job? What work?”

Kingman winked and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.“Chloe! Need I say more?”

“Yes, you do. Who’s Chloe?”

“Don’t worry. My lips are sealed!” said Kingman.

“I don’t get it,” said Shanille.

Kingman lost some of his bluster.“Oh, don’t you play coy with me, Shanille. Harriet here told me all about it. And as your oldest friend I think you should have told me first.”

“Told you what?!”

“The advice column job!”

Now it was Shanille’s turn to drop her voice to a whisper. “Have you been drinking again, Kingman? You know how I feel about cats and alcohol. Besides, it’s not good for you.”

“I haven’t touched a drop of the stuff, I swear!”

“Well, see that you don’t. A wise cat once told me that when you need alcohol to see you through the day it’s time to turn your face to your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s all the stimulant you need.” She frowned. “Now why are you grinning at me like that?”

“I knew it! You can’t help giving advice even when I didn’t ask for it. You’re a natural, Shanille, and I’m gonna tell this whole town to start sending in their questions.”

“Crazy,” said Shanille as she walked away. “The cat is completely cuckoo.”

Kingman tapped his nose.“Don’t worry, Harriet. Shanille’s secret is safe with me.”

Harriet, following the conversation with rising perturbation, merely groaned. And as she walked off, she wondered why, oh, why she’d ever deemed the pets of Hampton Cove worth saving. Now she’d be doing all the work, with Shanille taking all the credit.

She better ask Gabi what to do. Gabi was smart. Gabi knew.

Chapter 7